NHL still waiting for new union proposal

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No movement: NHL locker rooms have remained empty as the league is in the midst of a lockout that shows no signs of ending prior to the season opening on time Oct. 11.

The rhetoric is rising, while the time before the planned start of the NHL regular season is running out.

And now it seems more likely than not that regular-season games will be canceled before the league and the players’ association even get back to the negotiating table.

The sides broke off talks Tuesday after just two hours, and it was hard to find optimism anywhere that the season would avoid a major disruption — just seven years after a full season was lost to a lockout.

“Not prepared to speculate on next steps at this point,” NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press in an email on Wednesday. “Obviously, we’ve been saying for over a month now that we would welcome a new proposal from the Players’ Association. That continues to be our position.

“[It’s] not a constructive position to say, ‘Here’s our first offer. We think it’s really good. Call us back when you are ready to accept it.’ That’s what the union has effectively done here.”

Daly also said on Wednesday that the NHL has no timetable when it will start calling off regular-season games. The season is slated to open on Oct. 11. But with training camps on hold and all preseason games already canceled, it is hard to imagine the NHL can stick to that schedule if a deal with the players’ association isn’t reached in the next day or two.

With no new negotiations scheduled, that seems to be nearly impossible.

When the sides met on Tuesday, for the fourth time in five days, they again focused their talks on secondary issues and not the core economics that have the NHL and the union at odds.

With little to actually discuss, the meeting broke up relatively quickly and left both groups frustrated.